One Spring Night (Kdrama Review)
One spring night is a realistic and authentic movie series that portrays romance in a pure and raw form and brings to light social issues in terms of societal status, acceptable norms, relationships between two different generations (parents and kids) self-growth, and acceptance.
This movie is completely nonfiction. I’m talking no exaggerated scenes just real-life relatable flawed characters blinded by their circumstances, upbringing, and morals with different stories that lead to the union of our main couples.
Our story starts with Lee Jeong-in a librarian in a 4-year-old non-romantic relationship with her boyfriend Kwon Gi-Seok ( the banker ) walking into Woori pharmacy in need of a hangover cure medication. She meets Yoo Ji-ho a pharmacist and single dad who graduated a year behind Kwon Gi-Seok from the same university. Ji-oh finds her interesting and wants to see her again. Luck was on Ji-ho's side, Jeong-in forgot her wallet at her friend’s house, unable to settle the bill. He tells her to pay later and also pays for her Taxi.
Ji-oh intentionally does not respond to Jeong-in’s texts, so she has to pay him back in person. Jeong-in revisits Woori pharmacy to settle her bill and during their conversation, he implies his interest in her. She tells him she is in a relationship and can only be friends with him. He refuses her offer right before or after telling her he is a single parent ( I'm not sure .*smiles*). As a young single parent Ji-oh is looked down on, not only by society but also by his friends and every other character. Only Jeong-in didn’t seem to mind but saw him as only Ji-oh and not as a single parent.
This meeting not only leads both main leads to self-realization but also brings the other characters face to face with their buried flaws making all character self examine themselves, some accepting their flaws and doing something about it, while others turning a blind eye and go on lying to themselves. This reminded me of humans.
Character Analysis and development
Lee Jeong-in -
Lee Jeong-in is an average girl, with an average job. Society will refer to her as the average woman in terms of status. She’s not an important person neither is she chic. She is advised and pressured to marry Gi-seok (ie marry into a rich and respected family). Gi-seok checks off that box except for the most important box — romance. Their relationship was more like a contract. It was loveless but convenient, they both agreed to the fact that the spark between them was long gone. As seen in the movie Jeong-in is someone who keeps fighting for her voice to be heard, her boyfriend didn’t listen to her (she had to break up with him so many times. what’s more annoying was that his refusal wasn’t because he loved her but because he wanted to show dominance, that Alpha male nonsense). Neither did her Dad, who was extremely selfish and cared only about his retirement and reputation listen to her which put her mother in the position of always confronting him hence standing up for her kids and being their pillar. Only Ji-oh listened to her (according to me, I don’t know if y’all noticed).
Now meeting Yu Ji-oh changes everything for Lee Jeong-in and brings her into a new light, exposing all the flaws in her situation and also about herself (which we saw in different parts of the drama). This challenges her to make a personal decision. Now she is drawn between family and love. In this drama, you can gradually see this character become more self-aware. She gradually learns to put someone else before herself, I believe that the relationship she had with Ji-oh’s son Eun-u played a part. The part where she asks Eun-u if she can be his mom was so cute and this showed respect, acceptance, and genuine love for the child. She now gets to decide what she finally wants out of a relationship. I appreciate the fact that she didn’t end the relationship with Kwon Gi-seok just because she found a new guy ( i rooted for that tho). Once she decided to end the relationship she did it for herself and she also made it clear to Ji-oh ( i loved that).
This new feeling and experiences is so comforting and she isnt going back to her old self, now she is NEW and GROWN
Yoo Ji-oh -
Not your rich CEO kdrama fantasy prince as the norms but an eyesore to society. Ji-oh is an average perfect guy, an interesting character. He is calm and thoughtful. I loved how he threaten Gi-seok when he tried to disrespect his son ( like disrespect me but don’t mess with my kid). He knows what he wants. He is fully aware of who he wants as a partner, and isnt going to relent to get his love interest but at the same time was respectful to her not to be headstrong and push himself on her or pressure her, but let her grow and find herself. Letting her get to the point where she knows what she needs and wants. (*claps*). Ji-ho’s parents were also very supportive.
Eun-u mom is referred to in the movie. she left leaving a void in both Eun-u and Ji-ho, which leads to Ji-oh’s insecurities in love. Where Ji-oh asks Jeong-in if she would leave them shows the height of his concern as a parent not just as a man in love, this shows the strong bond between Ji-ho and Eun-u ( parents and kids).
Kwon Gi-Seok -
Gi-seok is your typical rich entitled proud guy, who thinks … well I’m rich so therefore I deserve love, you must love me and put up with me. This is why he felt threatened by Ji-ho, the idea of losing Jeong-in to someone of a lower class was sickening to him. Taking advice from Nam Si-hoon (Seo-in’s abusive husband) was just a bad idea. For Gi-seok it was a fight of dominance, not love. It was to show who was alpha and who deserve happiness due to status. He didn’t love her but he couldn’t lose her to a lower-class male. Now he comes to face the reality that money and status can’t get you real romance, but change for him doesn’t happen easily.
Lee Seo-in ( Jeong-in’s elder sister) and Nam Si-hoon (her husband) -
Seo-in is seen as successful and in society’s eyes. She’s the IT girl an important person ( a broadcaster), but out of all the 3 sisters, she is the most miserable. She is in an abusive marriage with Si-hoon. It was so heartbreaking to watch her go through hell in an abusive marriage and not even her family knew about it. When she finally opened up to her sisters, this represented growth. Her 1st step to letting go of what is expected of her by all and putting herself first. I didn’t get why she had to quit her job tho, who cares what people say.
Nam Si-hoon was something else. How can someone have no shame, faking and living a lie? This character has no interest in changing from his bad ways. I won’t go further because I disliked this character. The sad truth is that people like this exist.
Lee Jae-in -
Jae-in is the youngest of the 3 sisters. According to the movie series, I would say that she was seen as the problem child. To society, she is seen as un-serious. She is very knowledgeable and views issues differently ( maybe it's because she studied abroad and has experienced a different ideology which makes her open to certain things). We can see her advising her sisters and dropping knowledge bombs on them. She is also flawed but we see her experience growth as the movie proceeds. In the end, she admits that coming back home has changed her and she has learned a lot about herself.
My verdict
I would rate this movie 10 out of 10. I highly recommended this movie. This drama draws you into the situation and makes you feel the same emotions as the characters because it’s so relatable and realistic. The series revolves around romance and relationships and brings to light some toxic expectations of society. (social status and judgment for not sticking to the status quo)
I love how the romance grows and becomes an irresistible passion for both the couple and myself (the viewer). The raw experience of love and relationship eventually shapes one’s personality. Finding the meaning of relationship and self-realization. A gradual and intense attraction.
I’ll say that this movie is realistic because of how relatable each character was, we all can picture this happing in our lives where we have to worry about society’s thoughts before making decisions about our personal lives in both relationships and career. The actors did a fantastic job in portraying each character. All the actors gave a very natural performance ( I love kdrama’s). The writing and directing were spots on. The cinematography was satisfying, sometimes I felt I was looking at art. I could feel every emotion (now that’s acting).
Throughout this movie, they spoke the language of romance without even speaking that’s what I found so fascinating. This was romance in a raw form that was genuine and true without any underlining impure intention. The outfits were simple. Having a softness to them, perfectly matching each character’s personality.
I would watch this movie over again.
(At the time of writing this review I was on episode 2 of something in the rain. Most people say something in the rain and one spring night gives off the same vibe because they are both written and directed by the same persons — I can’t say I agree or disagree until I get to the end of the series.)
Please leave a comment — tell me what you think of this movie. If you haven’t seen it yet — are you going to watch it?
Ps. this is my first movie review, be nice, thanks.
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